The Spark

Just finished reading The Spark (thanks Pastor Chris) about the creativity and innovation in Cirque du Soleil. Here are a few nuggets:

"Creativity is first and foremost about courage."

"Our first idea was almost never our last."

"If you really want to make things happen, you have to be willing to crash."

"The greatest danger is not failing, but getting comfortable."

"It's never my failures that I regret, it's the things I pass up because I'm too scared, too safe."

I loved the way the book focused on the importance of cross-pollinating disciplines, reinventing yourself and your projects, and "dreaming magnificently." At 135 (small) pages, it's a quick and worthwhile read.

Tourists

I forget what an amazing city I live in! For several years, I would walk to work and just marvel as I passed the monuments and the buildings, and I would feel so grateful that I had the privilege of living and working in Washington, DC. Now, I'm afraid I take it for granted far too often.

This weekend, however, Ryan and I went into full tourist mode. Our friend John graduated from law school, so his family (most of whom do not speak English- John's family is from China) was in town.

First, we got our own private tour of the West Wing of the White House. Thanks Robert!

The first time I walked through the doorway to the West Wing Reception Room, there was a Marine ceremonially guarding the entrance, and I was a legislative assistant to a Senator meeting with the President on steel trade issues. I was so excited I called my mom, dad, and sister to let them know where I was.

The last time I was in the West Wing I was still working on the Hill. And I didn't have a dumb visitor badge hanging around my neck. ~sigh~ I guess I must miss it a little bit.

Then, we got our own private tour of the Capitol Building. The best part was listening to a Senator from Alabama narrating the history, architecture, and art of the U.S. Capitol to a bunch of non-English speaking Asian Americans. It was awesome.

My favorite time to walk through the halls is late at night when no one else is around. There are wonderful ghost stories about the statues in the Old House Chamber coming to life and an old black cat which has presumable haunted the building for decades.

If you're ever in DC, make sure to arrange your Capitol tour through your senator's office or congressman's office. It will be a much better experience than being hoarded through with 50 other people at the same time.

The New Testament in 138 Minutes

Just finished The Story, Act Two: The New Testament. We started with the cultural and historical world into which Christ was born, followed him from Nazareth to Galilee to Golgotha, experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit, traveled with Paul to visit churches and pastors, and stood in awe of the glory of Christ revealed in Revelation.

The Old Testament covers thousands of years. The New Testament spans only about 100 years. And yet every year I go over my time. I did the OT in 127 minutes but needed 138 minutes for the New Testament. I think the Southern Baptist in me catches on fire when I start talking about Jesus and I just can't shut up. Or maybe it's just that I really don't want The Story to end. Thank God it doesn't. While the canon of Scripture has closed, the story of God is still sweeping across time and space, and we get to play a role. It's so good!

I'm going to miss The Story...looking forward to next May!

Willow Creek Group Life Conference

I wanted to get this on your radar screen: The 2008 Group Life Conference at Willow Creek. I went last year and, on my return, immediately requested budget to take my entire coaching team the following year.

Mark Batterson and I will be leading one main session, "Where Community Grows Best," and then I'll be doing a Breakout Session, "Everything is an Experiment: Creative Community for Emerging Generations."

Looks like I'll also be joining blogging pros Cynthia Ware, Frank Chiapperino, and Mac Lake for a pre-conference forum on Community and Social Networks.

And last, but most importantly, the NCC crew would like to get to know other folks from the DC-metro area that will be attending the conference. We are working with the Willow guys to reserve a spot for a pre-conference DC-Area Churches Coffee. We would really like to create a network of churches in our area that we can learn from, encourage, and pray with. If you are planning to be at the conference, email John Hasler to let him know you'll be there, and we will look forward to meeting you!

Have I Lost My Mind?

Well, I bit the bullet and decided to do it. I'm leading another Women in Leadership group. :) My good friend Christy Tanious and I led it together about 3 years ago, and I figured it was time to run it again. This time, we'll do it in the morning, and we'll probably limit the size.

We'll be exploring the unique challenges, chaos, and craziness of being a leader in a woman's body. We'll wrestle with the tension of leadership and femininity and hopefully encourage and pray for some people along the way.

I do not feel like it's my calling to push women into leadership positions. But I do feel a sense of responsibility to and compassion for those who wrestle with this stuff-- whether they are on the Hill, in academia, in business, in ministry, in the home, or wherever they might be.

Why I Love Alabama

It's time for another Why I Love Alabama post!

#46- Wild Blackberries- yum! I used to be able to pick these around the corner from my house until the sprawl happened. :) Wow, I'm really wanting some blackberries now. For whatever its worth, Cracker Barrel has a great blackberry cobbler.

#55- Fishing That Borders on Religious Experience- it might sound dumb, but God and I have had some of our best talks while waiting for the catfish to bite.

Color Outside the Lines

I have a very clear, distinct memory of being taught to color inside the lines. When I say "clear," I don't mean in the sense of the details-- for instance, I don't remember how old I was or whether it was my mom or my dad (I think it was my dad). But the feeling of enlightenment, empowerment, and freedom I felt has amazing clarity. I know that most kids feel restricted and their artistic expression is short-circuited when they are told to color inside the lines. For me, however, the instruction to color inside the lines gave meaning and purpose to what I was doing. All of a sudden, I was able to see the picture and the whole process of coloring made sense.

Now, however, I feel an urge to go grab a coloring book and scribble everywhere but inside the lines (my artistic growth seems to lag significantly behind the average 5-year old). Once you know the rules and respect the rules, you can break them appropriately.

I've experienced the same thing with spiritual formation. There were general rules for spiritual formation that were good during certain phases of my spiritual growth- I followed the rules for prayer, the rules for quiet time, the rules for sharing my faith. Those rules brought growth and understanding. Now, however, I feel like some of those rules need to be broken in appropriate ways. We never stop praying or reading or confessing, or evangelizing. But maybe those "rules" for the right way of doing it that brought such tremendous formation in the early days of my Christ-following adventures will not allow the full expression of my faith and who God created me to become to come forward.

Now, this is making me think about classical physics and quantum (or "modern) physics. Classical physics is incomplete, but it's still taught because it enriches our understanding of quantum physics. Okay, that has the potential to make my brain hurt. Where can I find a coloring book?

Honor

Yesterday I led our morning staff meeting, and I read a passage from Romans 12 that contains one of my new favorite verses: "take delight in honoring each other." The Holman Christian Standard Bible translates it like this: "outdo one another in showing honor."

I've been on a soapbox for a couple months now about the lack of respect and honor that we show in our culture. Granted, I am in no way becoming the solution to this problem in my own life. But I have spent a good bit of time thinking about how we can obey this command. How do we truly and authentically honor one another? Do people have different "honor" languages like they have "love languages?"

Stuff Christians Like

I've got a new favorite blog: Stuff Christians Like.

John Hasler and I just invested about 15 minutes of work time and 15 minutes of tithe-supported paycheck time laughing at this thing. I think the January entries are the funniest. Our excuse is that we were doing "cultural exegesis" to determine why the dechurched left church.